Operae _ Article by Grazia Berardinelli

Operae Was Born At Turin, Between The 4th to The 6th November 2011 as a Platform of Meeting, Sharing, Exchange and Developement of The Design At Turin, Also Thanks to The Confrontation With International Models

From a few years, Turin opens up to the working space, clearly pointing at the redevelopent and
revaluation of its own territory, improving the capacity and peculiarity of the place, offering new university options, for example the industrial design departement at the Politecnico. The course necessary needs new programs and ideas to be competitive at national level, and evitate the withdraw to others cities such as Milan.
Operae intends to open a new passage.
On Saturday 5th November, in the Cavour room in the congress center of the Chamber of Commerce, took place a workshop on the self-produced design or Authorial Design, organised by the Associazione Torino –Design, in collaboration with Politecnico and Fondazione CRT.
The themes of the workshop took in consideration the industry&#039;s valours and expertise, as well those from handycraft and professional arts. It is also trying some others approaches to world of Self-produced Design, postulating personal development and new valours in the light of a globalised world.
Paolo Maccarone opened the debate, as one of the founder of the Associazione Design Week, that introduced the concept of a design that operated from the idea: a single intuition to develop, enquiring on needs, resources, material to produce manually or the use of industrial production. The designer plays the part of the opera&#039;s father and has to take him along its growing path.
Paolo Ulian makes a parallel between the designer and the Rinascimento&#039;s craftsman figure who technically translated other&#039;s ideas, pushed by the desire to do something nice for the others, without forgetting the poetical aspect of the emotions.Enzo Mari was particulary severe and contrary on today designer&#039;s reality: on thewidespread ignorance either within the formative university ambit or from the youngster, whose controversial ideas often fill the column of specialised magazines, but are seldom produced by entrepreneurs.After a touching yet dramatic digression on Italian Design, from WWII to nowadays, he talked about his personal history as a young and very ignorant designer, luckily urged by determination and desire to improve his status, in a historical moment of widespread material and psychological poverty.
In Milan, where he lived and worked, the immigrants were motivated by the need of achievement.
April 25th should be celebrated as a change by all means.For Enzo Mari, today&#039;s world crisis has set aside the emotions of the designers, who have fallen into a formalism that is changing the nature of things, at the expense of functionality.
He, then directly addressed the young people with bright and provocative words, reiterating the absolute necessity of producing art works, an indispensable instrument to the profession since the time of the communal craft guilds.Regarding the debate on self-production, it was said that while it recalls the production process, it also trivializes the DIY product, for its use of inexpensive materials.
The self-production is an approach to utopia, where the design and its realization coincide, eliminating mass production and communication.
The only possible action to strongly support the designer is to create a regulation that, at least, recognises the minimal cost of the work, as it is for all workers&#039;categories.These suggestions should make us reflect on how empty and useless the production has been in recent years, forgetting ethics essential to human life, also for aesthetic and spiritual purposes.The debate, opened to young people who remained glued to their seats, despite the harsh attacks, demontrates their realization of today&#039;s serious situation.
It can be overcome with a serious, conscious and concrete thinking, not by presumptuous ignorants only in search of personal success, but to help the territory and those living here, working in synergy.Exerpt:From a few years, Turin opens up to the working space, clearly pointing at the redevelopent and
revaluation of its own territory, improving the capacity and peculiarity of the place, offering new university options, for example the industrial design departement at the Politecnico. The course necessary needs new programs and ideas to be competitive at national level, and evitate the withdraw to others cities such as Milan.
Operae intends to open a new passage.
On Saturday 5th November, in t..